Having journaled for years, recently I went to a digital platform for my journal, so I’ve begun to transcribe my old, hand-written journals into the new platform. It’s a painstakingly slow project, and the strange world of COVID-19 has prompted its resumption.

Then it finally dawned on me. The tree is a metaphor for life. It is weighed down by its branches but yet keeps growing taller and taller towards the sky.

Since COVID-19 began I’ve heard several of my Christian friends say some version of “trust God.” ... Trusting God does not mean I won’t get COVID-19. It means that if I do, He will be with me...

Jesus instructed his disciples to “pack light” for their mission (Matthew 10:9-10). When it comes to the mission of supporting people who experience disabilities, there are a few transferable principles from this passage of scripture that we can apply.

It’s 1 in the morning and I cry out to God – "I can’t sleep. All I have in my head is pain and fear. What am I supposed to do? I’m stressed and restless and can’t sleep."

But then I actually talked to the people I was trying to protect. While I was enjoying my coffee and car rides with my wife, some of my people were stuck at home alone, often with no access to our online services.

I was young and early in my career, eager to prove myself and terrified of being perceived as being anything but in total control of my charge. I was not at all happy to be outside of the walls of the school ... I did not want to be walking to church.

Whatever the reason for your interest in Able Soul there is a strong likelihood that it will help you to grow spiritually.

How did these COVID-19 restrictions affect people with disabilities, many of whom already felt unwelcome or ignored by their church even in normal times?

This is the hardest part of the pandemic for me. It feels like a personal hour of darkness.